The History of Altruism is a historical treatment of the development of altruism throughout time from the Paleolithic period to today. It tracks the development of self-sacrifice of primitive man to the advent of altruism as a development from Kant’s “duty”. It covers a broad sweep of concepts and shows how they influenced modern man, religion and societies through the ages.

The book has a hierarchical structure that moves through the Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Hellenistic, Christian and into the periods of modern philosophy and the Enlightenment. The goal is to bring a better understanding of altruism as it developed from its original source in ritual human sacrifice.